The professor of Microbiology, Preventive Medicine and Public Health and advisor to the Canary Islands Government, Antonio Sierra, is not in favour of raising Tenerife to alert Level 4 because the new restrictions would not have an effect on the sector of the population that is being seen more affected by contagions, which is those aged 16 to 29 years old.
In an interview with COPE, he said: "We will not achieve anything with these limitations, since young people meet in other places, outside the bar and restaurant industry. Therefore, our priority for the immediate future must be to vaccinate this group as soon as possible. It is clear that controlling the situation is going to be complicated and difficult days are coming."
At the same time, he stressed that it will be very complex to change behaviour in the short and medium term:
"The call for people to act responsibly is important, but it has been shown to be useless. The virus is spreading because of reckless behaviour. There are many mild asymptomatic patients and an extension has been formed between them by the British variant and the arrival of the Indian strain. We are not just talking about the 200 official daily cases, we also have to take into account those that are hidden, as demonstrated in the screenings that were carried out last weekend," he asserted.
Sierra also wanted to remind that the end of the state of alarm has left administrations without enough ‘tools’ to stop the advance of the pandemic:
"We will have to see how to improve the surveillance of parties, gatherings, botellons and unauthorized encounters. I never agreed with the elimination of the curfew or the mandatory use of the mask outdoors, since there is now overconfidence and a feeling of invulnerability in a part of the population ".
He also emphasized that younger people are now entering hospital with Covid than before, with some in ICU fighting for their lives, and that more and more are in home isolation with their families after end of term parties have led to infections. However, one of the problems being faced, is keeping them in isolation, as there are many reports of them ignoring it.
Antonio Sierra is one of the Public Health Committee advisors who will be present at the Governing Council meeting later today that with review the data of the islands and make any level changes accordingly.
